Ohio
Education advocates want voters to decide on DEI ban in Ohio colleges, universities
CINCINNATI — Education advocates were out in the Cincinnati streets Monday trying to push back against Senate Bill 1 (SB 1), which would ban diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) in state colleges and universities.
“It is a way to erode public higher education in Ohio. So the bill is designed to eliminate programs and services that are based on identity groups,” said Kate Durso, the southwest regional captain advocating against SB 1.
SB 1, or the “Ohio Higher Education Act,” was signed into law by Gov. Mike DeWine on March 28. The law goes into effect on June 27.
Facebook: Ohio Senate Republicans
The law bans DEI from trainings, orientations, offices, positions or new institutional scholarships at state colleges or universities. Other policies in the Ohio Higher Education Act include a required American civics literacy course, prohibiting full-time university faculty from striking and automatically eliminating any university degree program that awards fewer than five degrees per year on a three-year rolling average.
SB 1’s text states that the law is meant to support “intellectual diversity” at state colleges and universities.
In February, WCPO 9 reported on SB 1 after the state’s Senate passed the legislation. One Republican senator explained why supporters are cracking down on DEI on college campuses.
“Rather than fostering equality, DEI enforces racial divisions, prioritizes group identity over individual merit and creates (the) very discrimination it claims to be fighting,” said state Sen. Andrew Brenner (R-District 19).
Watch to learn more about how advocates are challenging SB 1 and what it means for Ohio’s higher education landscape:
Volunteers look for support to fight Ohio’s ban on DEI at state colleges
An excerpt from SB 1 describes how teachers are expected to enable free thought and discussion under this legislation:
“Affirm and declare that faculty and staff shall allow and encourage students to reach their own conclusions about all controversial beliefs or policies and shall not seek to indoctrinate any social, political, or religious point of view;”
Senate Bill 1
I met with Kate Durso and her team of volunteers, who disagree with the lawmakers behind SB 1.
WCPO 9 News
“I would say that this bill, in fact, does not promote more inclusive conversation. It actually creates boundaries and barriers against civil discourse,” Durso said.
A member of Durso’s volunteer team told me that SB 1 is pushing her away from her home state.
“Yeah, I graduated from UC, University of Cincinnati, in 2023, and I’m pursuing law school now. And this bill, SB 1, was one of the reasons that I’m not staying in my hometown of Cincinnati for law school; it just scares me too much,” Erin Tedtman said.
WCPO 9 News
Now, she is one of the local advocates in an initiative to move the law to a ballot issue this fall.
Advocates sent a referendum petition to Attorney General Dave Yost’s office in April. That process required 1,000 signatures. Once the AG’s office approved the first part of the referendum, the volunteers’ efforts expanded. The volunteers have to collect 250,000 signatures across at least 44 of Ohio’s 88 counties, as Durso explained. Their deadline is June 25.
“We need to hit a certain percentage within each of those counties based on the 2022 gubernatorial election,” Durso said.
The volunteer captain said that her team and others across Ohio are trying for as many signatures as possible, because some may be marked invalid, which could occur even with a slight mistake.
“If someone accidentally writes their first and last name in the same box instead of following the directions on the form or includes the wrong address,” Durso said.
As a lifelong educator, Durso told me this is her way of advocating for students and staff she works with.
CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Sixty percent of children in Ohio are not ready for kindergarten when they start school.
Now, a national nonprofit is working to change that by expanding access to books and promoting early literacy across the state.
Sixty percent of children in Ohio are not ready for kindergarten when they start school. (WKRC file)
Nedra Smith has seen the difference firsthand. Her two young daughters receive books through the program at their pediatrician visits at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital.
“They love to read now,” Smith said. “We’ll randomly be out and they’ll see a book and want to read a book.”
Reach Out and Read partners with pediatricians to give children books during regular checkups and encourage parents to read aloud with them. The program has been part of Cincinnati Children’s for more than a decade.
“They typically come in and tell us they got new books,” Smith said. “They typically ask me to read the book right then and there.”
Program leaders say early literacy is increasingly being recognized as an important part of a child’s overall health and development.
“Initially, literacy may not have been in the forefront or seen as a health benefit,” said Kristy High, program manager for Reach Out and Read. “Well-child checks focus on shots, nutrition, and those things; but now we want to focus on those main benefits for the development and milestones when it comes to learning.”
The organization is now working to expand its reach statewide, with a goal of serving children in all 88 Ohio counties.
“We know that those first five years of life are the most critical for brain development,” said Steven Lake, executive director of Reach Out and Read Ohio. “If we can intervene as early as possible, essentially, we reach out at birth; we know we can have the greatest impact.”
Smith encourages other parents to participate in the program and read to their children.
“It’s fun,” Smith said. “It’s actually fun to see them light up, and I think they’ll pass that on to their own kids as well.”
Reach Out and Read also partners with providers in Kentucky and Indiana. You can find a participating provider near you on the organization’s website.
If you are a doctor looking to participate in the program, click here.
The Ohio Lottery offers multiple draw games for those aiming to win big.
Here’s a look at May 10, 2026, results for each game:
Pick 3
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 8-6-2
Evening: 7-0-5
Check Pick 3 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick 4
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 9-4-7-0
Evening: 0-6-1-8
Check Pick 4 payouts and previous drawings here.
Pick 5
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at 12:29 p.m. and 7:29 p.m., except Saturday evening.
Midday: 1-7-3-7-4
Evening: 9-0-8-8-0
Check Pick 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Rolling Cash 5
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at approximately 7:05 p.m.
16-19-33-36-38
Check Rolling Cash 5 payouts and previous drawings here.
Millionaire for Life
Drawings are held daily, seven days a week, at approximately 11:15 p.m.
01-03-20-35-46, Bonus: 05
Check Millionaire for Life payouts and previous drawings here.
Feeling lucky? Explore the latest lottery news & results
This results page was generated automatically using information from TinBu and a template written and reviewed by an Enquirer digital news director. You can send feedback using this form.
Ryan Day will have some very familiar competition in the Big 10 soon.
The son of the Ohio State football coach, R.J. Day, announced his commitment to Northwestern for the Class of 2027 on Sunday.
Northwestern plays in the same conference as Ohio State and the schools will face each other.
R.J. Day, a 6-foot-1, 205-pound quarterback from — not surprisingly — Columbus, Ohio, has started for three years at St. Francis DeSales HS as he heads towards his senior season.
According to reports, the younger Day had other offers from Purdue, Syracuse, Cincinnati and South Florida, as well as others.
Northwestern has eight quarterbacks on head coach David Braun’s roster.
And the offensive coordinator for the Wildcats is Chip Kelly, who served in the same role for Ryan Day at Ohio State when the Buckeyes won the title in 2024.
Kelly, the former head coach at UCLA and Oregon, was also the offensive coordinator at New Hampshire when Ryan Day was the team captain from 1998-2001.
Most recently, Kelly was the OC with the Las Vegas Raiders before he took the job with Northwestern.
“It’s really surreal when you think about the relationships that we’ve had with those two as a family over the years,” R.J. Day told ESPN earlier this month. “Coach Kelly coached my dad in college, so that adds another layer to it.”
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